An Island Frame of Mind (A Cam and Luke PTR) Updated 5/22 - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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Signing on so I can follow along! I always look forward to your trip reports!
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You are so sweet!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
Cam, this sounds like a fabulous trip!! how cool to see both the Flower and Garden Festival and a Star Wars weekend!! you guys are going to have so much fun!!
Tara
We do try to get as much in for each trip as possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mojjo
Great start! Can't wait to read all about and look forward to the flower pictures.
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Can't believe you had that much snow on the ground in Kentucky! I expect it up in my neck of the woods in CT, but not that degree where you live Cam. I'm just about 30 or so miles east of NYC. We're not really in the snow belt part of the state, although the last few years....it certainly has been. On an average year we receive about 30 inches in an average Winter and to me that is 30 inches too much as I love the warm weather so much! A surprise to you considering how much I enjoy going to Florida?
A lot of rain today and been in the 50's the last few days with a lot of snow melt. There is a lot of green color all of sudden appearing underneath the snow melt and I can't figure out what this is as I can't recall ever coming in contact with it recently! I may have to observe it more first hand and find out what this green stuff is actually! I'm just baffled! I'm hoping someone here may have an answer as there are so many helpful PPs here!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Can't believe you had that much snow on the ground in Kentucky! I expect it up in my neck of the woods in CT, but not that degree where you live Cam. I'm just about 30 or so miles east of NYC. We're not really in the snow belt part of the state, although the last few years....it certainly has been. On an average year we receive about 30 inches in an average Winter and to me that is 30 inches too much as I love the warm weather so much! A surprise to you considering how much I enjoy going to Florida?
A lot of rain today and been in the 50's the last few days with a lot of snow melt. There is a lot of green color all of sudden appearing underneath the snow melt and I can't figure out what this is as I can't recall ever coming in contact with it recently! I may have to observe it more first hand and find out what this green stuff is actually! I'm just baffled! I'm hoping someone here may have an answer as there are so many helpful PPs here!
Today is 65 degrees and pure sunshine, so we headed out late morning for a 5k walk. As we came back around to our block, Luke mentioned that it might not be too long before yards here began to green up. When we got to our yard, which he tends very well, it was already quite green. We hadn't noticed until we talked about it.
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Originally Posted by MAria R
It's been forever since I have been on the boards and I'm thrilled that I'm coming back just in time to read a TR from you!!!
back and thanks for reading along!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start Cam! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!
Last year when we planned our May trip, our first choice of resort was the Grand Floridian Villas. No luck, so we decided on Wilderness Lodge. Then we could book for our October trip, and again our first choice was the Grand Floridian. Yet again, no luck. That didn’t bother us though as we headed home to stay in my favorite resort, Villas at Animal Kingdom Lodge, choosing Jambo House for the fall. When we began planning the cruise, we waffled for so long deciding whether to spend any time at WDW before the cruise, we were lucky to find anything at all. Ultimately, we stayed two nights at Old Key West.
For the May 2015 trip, our reservation window opened up in October, a couple of weeks prior to the October 2014 trip. We crossed our fingers and hoped finally we’d get the Grand Floridian. Nope, nada, not going to happen. In fact, there were absolutely NO studios available for the length of our stay anywhere. Beach Club was showing availability for our entire stay in a one-bedroom villa. We quickly selected that and then waitlisted for the Grand Floridian.
Luke stalks the DVC site almost daily to keep up to date as well as to see if anything becomes available. We have done a split stay, but truthfully, it is more hassle than Luke and I want to deal with on a trip. So even when Luke noticed a few days opened up at the VGF, we stuck to our BC ressie. Then one day in late January, Luke noticed that on February 25 any DVC member could book a room at the Poly. On the morning of 2/25, he was up and ready to book. He was a little leery of cancelling online and rebooking for fear we’d have no room at all. Instead he called. After a 15 – 20 minute wait, a CM was able to take care of the changes. So rather than being at Beach Club, we will be spending 9 nights in a Deluxe Studio Lake View at the newly redesigned Polynesian Village Resort. We have never stayed at a monorail resort, so we are beyond excited about this change. We got to do online check in on March 12, selecting only an upper level room. The bonus from the resort switch is that we saved 100 DVC points that can now be used for our October 2015 trip to Disneyland.
We have both been looking for anything we can find out beforehand about the new Poly villas. We will be in a longhouse, and I can’t wait to see what our lake view offers. In case you haven’t seen the photos, this is what the Deluxe Studio looks like.
At Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, the Deluxe Studios will offer a bathroom separated into two areas, each offering a sink and a shower (one with a walk-in shower, and the other with a tub/shower combo). And yes, of course the bathroom will offer a toilet (singular) as well. [Borrowed from Disney Parks Blog]
And that is why we are now in an island state of mind!
Neat! Can't wait to hear what you think! I'm going to be trying to change ours next month…
Now, when you are on a trip longer than 7 days, do you need to wait before changing or will they do it beyond the 7 days? we are there for 13 days in November. I've never tried to change one that long before and I don't want a split stay either!
Well done on the changes and congrats to Luke for coming through for the two of you! I stayed at the Poly back in 2009 in a Garden View Room and enjoyed my seven night stay here very much. I was in the Raratonga longhouse which is right next to the GCH, which made it quite convenient for breakfast, lounges and the monorail! The monorail would pass by my window and I liked going out on the deck to see this!
I had a feeling you might be staying at the Poly, judging by your TR title!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Last edited by SuperDave; 03-15-2015 at 04:57 PM..
How cool that you're going to be staying at the Poly - I want to see lots of photos of your room! It's such a shame we missed the opening by a few weeks, now I have to wait until next year to try and get in there...
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You are so sweet! 
how cool to see both the Flower and Garden Festival and a Star Wars weekend!!
you guys are going to have so much fun!!
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Pixie Dust
I expect it up in my neck of the woods in CT, but not that degree where you live Cam. I'm just about 30 or so miles east of NYC. We're not really in the snow belt part of the state, although the last few years....it certainly has been. 
I may have to observe it more first hand and find out what this green stuff is actually! 
I'm just baffled! 
Katie's graduation
back and thanks for reading along!
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PassPorter Guide Author
It's such a shame we missed the opening by a few weeks, now I have to wait until next year to try and get in there...
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